World class. The aroma is subdued but the taste is unreal. Big body with a soft mouthfeel supplemented by an entirely unique cascade of citrus/pine hop flavors. The bouquet of apricot, mango, orange rind, caramel, tobacco and tea hits hard up front and proceeds to coat the mouth and longer along with the appropriately bitter aftertaste. Nothing like it.

A: Pours a slightly hazy orange color with a two finger white head. Very foamy with good retention and sticky lacing all around the glass.

S: Very fresh. Lots of citrus and tropical fruits - some pineapple, grapefruit, and lots of grassy hops. Some lemon and a little bit of orange pith/zest. There is a little bit of pale malt, but the hops dominate, as they should.

T: Fantastic. Heavy tropical fruit flavors with some grapefruit, mango, and a bit of tangerine. A little more zest/pith going on as well. Very faint pale malts give it a slight backbone. Very tasty.

Ah yes, Heady Ticker...Thanks @blackie for the CANS. I'm sorry folks, but I just couldn't get myself to drink this from a can, despite their wishes. That just doesn't make any sense to me - drank from some nice glassware with no issues! If they had told you to drink it out of a shoe, would you? Bright hop profile - oily, fragrant citrus, tropical, tangerine, pineapple. Really liked this - deserves most of the praise it receives.

A: Clover honey-colored body with a decent haze and some floaties. 1 finger head with that fluorescent yellow tinge that I've come to recognize in an IIPA. Head is not quite as thick as anticipated, but then again, I should be drinking this from the can... The brew leaves decent lacing after each sip.

F: Pine up front, some nice, not overpowering, bitterness. Honey-graham sweetness to balance. Some delicious green tea on the finish. DELICIOUS!!!

M: Medium-full body with medium carbonation. Right where it should be. Some sticky tannins cling to the inside of my mouth and lips.

O: I want more of this one! I can't think of an IIPA I've had that was better than this. A great mix of aromas and flavors. Everything just seems to work well together! Highly recommended! (On a side note, I drank my second HT straight from the can, and actually enjoyed it even more this way. Contrary to what you might think, if you get your hands on this beer, you should try it from the can.

A- This was very interesting to me. When I poured it from the can it looked a lime green. But once it's in the glass it is a dark yellow, off gold color. The head is about an inch and is off white. The head goes away after a few minutes but maintains a nice lace that covers the whole top of the beer.

S- When I first popped the tab I got hit in the face with tropical fruits. There's so much grapefruit, orange, lemon, pineapple, and apricot. There's a sticky sweetness in the back of the nose that is similar more to a syrup more than a sugar, if that make sense. The hops are huge in this beer. There's an excellent mix between bitterness and grass, floral characters in there. There's even a lightness in the smell.

T- I tasted this from both the can and the glass to decide which tastes better (there's an ongoing debate regarding this). First from the can; the hops hit first with a bitterness which then changes into tropical fruits with pineapple, grapefruit and apricot as the most prevalent. The malt is way more detectable in the taste (as it should be probably) which tastes really sweet. It finishes with a bitterness on the back of the tongue and a floral grassy, taste that remains for a long long time. The longer it sits the better it gets. Now, from the can; The fruits are the first thing I taste from the can. Then the malt sits in and smooths out the taste with a bit of syrup and then the bitterness hits. The aftertaste is very similar to the glass.

M- thick, bitter and fruity. It's not bitter enough to make it hard to drink but just enough to cut up your mouth a little bit. In a really good way. The bitterness escalates as it sits on the tongue after the swallow.

O- An awesome beer. Probably my favorite IPA now, It's between this and sucks. This beer has a great balance between hops and malt. The hops are great and everything from top to bottom is great in this beer. I honestly think though that the beer is better in the can than the glass, you get a much higher concentration on flavor and aroma.

I poured a little bit into a glass and it's a hazy orange color with a decent head and some pretty good lacing

Nice aromas of citrus and pine blast out from the can. Immediately noticeable.

Taste is an onslaught of citrusy and piney hops with some good tropical fruit flavors too. Very mild bitterness on the front and shows up only slightly at the end. It lingers along with the hops.
Full-bodied but not sweet at all.

Really liked this beer. I'd have to say I prefer it in the can but maybe it's the suggestiveness of the brewer telling me I should.

I was brewing beer with friends when this appeared out of the fridge and in my glass. It's blood-orange and gold appearance made me wonder as the story of how it wound up in Rocky Point, NY was explained to me.

The fresh aroma of this immense ale was overwhelming as I dove into the first taste with eager anticipation. This complex and tremendous IPA with aggressive, but balanced, characteristics captured my attention. It reminded me of some great IPA flavors I had tasted from casks.

The malt elements surfaced in various ways as I promised myself to find more of this in the future.

While I could compare it to any number of IPA's that are stoutly hopped, this seemed to hold a magic that I could not quite describe.

I was so excited when I got the cans a few weeks ago, I completely forgot to review the damn beer. Anyways, I know it's awesome, and esp in a tall boy can! Tasty crack cans!

Pours a nice fluffy 1 finger head that fades at a med pace with some soapy lacing, over hazy golden orange-red nectar colored beer.

Nose explodes with fresh hops, plenty of fresh squeezed grapefruit, over ripe musty orange as its freshly sliced into and spraying mist ala the opening credits for Dexter, tropical fruit like papaya, mango, tangerine, and even passion fruit, with the slightest hint of fresh musty hop aroma. There is also a slight malt in there somewhere, hidden way behind the gushing hops. Very late as it warms, a bit of a candy earthy hop kick tries to poke it's head out but gets quickly knocked back down by another wave of tropical fruit.

Now comes the taste, yay! Juicy fruit, it's like mounds of tropical fruit was compressed into 1/10 the original size and 10x the fruit concentrate and ground into a liquid, then carbonated and you have this beer. The tropical fruit comes out and runs amok, lots of mango, tangerine galore, papaya, passion fruit, grapefruit, pineapple, it has it all. Also some citrus playing with the other hops, some musty orange rind and again fresh squeezed orange juice blended with pink grapefruit. The taste brings more of the fresh musty resinous hop flavor, must have added some nice dry hops. The hops are so juicy it literally is like drinking tropical fruit juice. Finally some malts weigh in, giving a nice rounded body and big mouth fell. Malts bring a slight sweetness and touch of booze to help balance the huge hop blast. the bitterness is decent at first, and ramps on the finish as it dries. It plays with your tongue, teasing on bitterness and tickle of almost astringency but before it gets there it leaves like a balk by a pitcher. A slight musty hop flavor lingers with all the tropical fruit and citrus orange rind that never wants to fade, but at the same time clean finish. It seriously lingers in my mouth for about 10 minutes after I finish (and it was hard not to crack another can in that 10 minutes). Damn, even the burps taste awesome.

Overall just friggen awesome. So far the best IPA on this side of the Mississippi, and probably best I've every had. So full of awesome hops, tropical fruits of all shapes and sizes, citrus orange rind, a bit of musty resinous hop, and all that with a nice big malty balance that takes the way back seat and still lets the hops take the show. A nice dry and clean finish that lingers forever. All that and it comes in a can, I mean who doesn't like it in the can. If I could get this all the time...

Thanks to loftis CT for the hookup!
pounder can served at cold temperature poured into a snifter.
The beer pours a hazy amber hue with lots of white particle sediment suspended and settling out as The beer rests. Bleached white head of 1 cm that fades to an edge layer and islands fairly quickly. Aroma is robust hop hits with pine sap and grapefruit rind, plus some grassy notes, but dominated by citrus notes.
First sip reveals an average body and silky smooth texture. The carbonation is fine and tingly.
Flavor is brief caramel and then all hops with grass, pine sap and some citrus notes mixing together nicely creating a complex hop profile not just overassertive bitterness. Very nice hop mix for a tasty and interesting beer, I was slightly doubtful after so much hype, but this beer lived up to the stories told about it. A nice American double IPA.

S: grapefruit rind, honeydew melon with rind, and some real pungent passion fruit. Guava doesn't hit me here as much as other citra (assuming citra, seems very apparent) in the nose. A little bit of green mango makes for a nice fruit cocktail in the nose.

T: First of all, this is a really balanced dipa. tropical, melon, and citrus with it being difficult to tell who's winning. Light cantaloupe with repeat sips. Alcohol really accentuates the melon as it warms. flavors come off dry and crisp. Drying fruit juice flavors really implies a fresh pineapple. The alcohol in this really makes me think fruity desserts. Scorched sugar tropical fruit, tropical fruits and rum. Really nice flavors, extremely well integrated; even the alcohol.

M: Soft mouth with a medium body and fair amount of chewiness. Alcohol puts a candy shell coating on the mouth throughout the course of drinking. Satin glove on the mouth with some really fine textures. Some dryness that limits the wetness of the alcohols, and keeps it drinking crisp in all temperatures. Really well done.

O: Simply, this is an outstanding DIPA. One of the very best that I've had, and easily the best from the east coast I've had to date. This has the type of balance I long for in a DIPA, and it delivers in the flavor. Seemed to have more of a sweet character than I'd expect to find, but it's really balanced. Alcohol is perceivable, but it's well integrated. Outstanding from Alchemist

Big thanks goes out to eggplantwiz for grabbing me this bottle.
A: Pours a thin white head that recedes quickly. Light caramel colored, with an unfiltered appearance.
S: Malt first, then tropical fruit, like pineapple and mango.
T: Wow, this is good. Nice hops, more than a typical DIPA. The hops and the malt balance well, with the malt in the background as a complimentary flavor rather than a dominant one. Bitter hops start the beer off, then it goes to tropical fruits, mango. I also get a hint of a fruit I wouldn't normally find in a beer, maybe a honeydew melon. Then the beer ends with more bitter grapefruit hops.
M: Not too sticky. Sits well in the mouth without being syrupy like some DIPA's. The lack of stickiness makes it refreshing.
D: I could drink lots of this. It goes down easily and is such a complex and interesting beer.

This beer definitely lived up to the hype for me, I look forward to trying it again in the future.

So if your beer tastes like this, maybe you only need to make one. There's likely no way that you'll ever out do Heady-Topper so just stop right there!

With a controlled and creamy pour of medium gold elixir, this hazy and glowing ale constructs a creamy, cottony white head with substantial retention and islands of lace. Overall, this is one sexy beer!

Seductive and mouthwatering citrus aromas abound from from the rim of the glass. The straight-up juicy fruity scent of the freshly squeezed pulp of ripe ruby red grapefruit with elements of citric acids, fruit sweetness that seems of thin honey, and some softer tropical notes of mango and apricot. It's impossible to put your nose so close to the glass without taking a sip.

The delicious delight of a beer delivers the straight forward grapefruit flavor just as the nose promises. The sweet pulp of fresh-picked ruby reds couldn't be more spot-on. Resiny as the citrus flavors seem to coat the mouth while the stripping of enamel commences. Soft caramel malts support the hops with the supple and elegant sweetness of powdered sugar and honey, but do so without contrast- make no mistake about it, this is a hop-forward ale with the likes that rarely seen. A very delicate yet hop-dominant balance throughout. Any estery fruitiness would weave into the hop matrix and inform the beer with complementary notes of tropical mangoes, apricots, and pineapple. Succulent and savory throughout, even as the beer's elegant hop flavor develops into soft resiny bitterness that grips the gullet with kid gloves in finish and aftertaste. Only the strong taste of alcohol for moderate 8% that reminds me of super glue is the only slight defect in taste.

Very creamy and delicate on the palate from the initial sip and deep into the middle portion of the palate. All the while coating the mouth with citrusy acids, diluted pine resin, and light sticky honey. The beer's carbonation develops a malty-dry finish that retains its soft malty body while contributing pleasant alcohol warmth and an extended citrusy bitterness.

When you're convinced of the impossibility of ever tasting a better IPA, something like this comes along and shows new possibility in flavor intensity, dryness, drnkability, and absolute elegance and finesse. It's hard to keep this beer off of the "perfect" line score.

Big thanks to n2185 for the can. Canned 11 October 2011, from what I hear. Enjoyed 21 October 2011, reviewed from notes. I followed the instructions on the can and tried it before I poured it - delicious, and as described, more of the hop aromatics still in the flavor.

Pours a hazy deep amber with a yellowish tone. One-finger whitish head, great retention and lacing.

Smells fantastic. Hops, hops, and more hops. Starts out with potent resiny pine, then kicks up the citrus with some grapefruit. Layers of fantastic smells just keep coming. Wow.

Taste is not quite on the level of the smell, but really really good. Hops come heavy, with sticky pine as the most prominent piece. The bitterness is strong, a little more than I'd like, though it doesn't take much away from the beer. Supported well by a nice malt base, but this one is all about the hops. Note: I let it warm up some, and it became a very different beer - less bitterness, smoother, and still quite delicious.

Mouthfeel is good. Medium-bodied, sugary IPA stickiness, medium-high carbonation. A tingly bite from the bubbles and the hops. Finish is long, straight, and true.

This is a darn good beer. Heavy on the hops, but dominated by what I call the positive hop characteristics - pine, citrus, and floral. Up there with Surly Abrasive as one of my favorite DIPAs. Really freaking good all around, and probably the best example I've encountered for showcasing pine hops on top of a bed of others.

the best DIPA i have ever tasted. poured a little into a snifter glass to view appearance: very hazy almost imposable to see through. smells very dank. the mouthful is very heavy and filling. finish is perfect! if you can get your hands on this beer it is a must have!

16oz can courtesy of Drazzamatazz from the Nice Cans III BIF. Even though the can says to drink it from the can, I'm gonna pour this into a NB Globe (I've got 3 more cans to try straight out the can).

A: Hazy amber color with a bone white head, about half an inch thick or so, sticks around nicely, and leaves a nice ring of lacing as it slowly recedes.

S: Tons and tons of hops, citrus, tropical fruit, pine, you name it, its got all of the hop characteristics that I love. Juicy hops even. Just smells absolutely fantastic. Pineapple and mango. A lot like opening a bag of hops. Spot on here.

T: Oh man, this is worth every bit of the hype that it's received. Tons of hop flavor, no other way to describe it. Just like sucking on a Citra hop cone. Pineapple, mango, grapefruit rind, and passion fruit all are hugely present, it's almost like a slightly bitter malty tropical fruit cocktail. Just loaded with hop flavors. Bitterness is there, but is not overbearing, just enough to keep things in check, tons of hop resins as well. Malt profile, no need to worry about a malt profile with all this hoppy goodness, there isn't much there, and I'm not missing any malt. Easily the most flavorful DIPA I've had in a long time.

M: Excellent, just the right amount of body, lower carbonation, slight warmth, finish is dry, but not annoyingly so.

O: Yeah, easily the best DIPA I've had in a long time. Huge aroma, even bigger flavor, not overly dry or over carbonated or too heavy or boozy. More and more I'm liking DIPA's to be in the 8.0% to 9.0% range, because the hops seem to get lost in the huge amount of malt it takes to push a beer over that 9.0% threshold, this beer hits everything right on. Great beer, completely worth the hype.

Bomber poured into my Alpine pint glass (A receptacle worthy of this hoppy rarity). A hard pour produces a finger and a half of fluffy white head which recedes gradually. Decent lacing. The beer is a hazy orange, amber color.

Smell is of pure hoppy goodness. Citrus peel and pine. Heavy on the pine.

Taste follows the nose. Grapefruit rind and piney bitterness threaten to erode the enamel from my teeth. Mid pallet the beer balances almost perfectly with a malty sweetness, before plunging into a chasm of piney, hoppy bitterness. Finish is dry and leaves me craving more.

Feel is full, a bit viscous, and perfectly carbonated.

Drinkability is exceedingly high, given the well hidden ABV and the incredible taste of this beer.

I found his brew to be eerily reminiscent of, dare I say it?, Alpine's Exponential Hoppiness, which I dearly love. For me, this beer totally lived up to the hype. Glad I had he opportunity and hope I'll be able to enjoy this again. Very highly recommended!

This review is long overdue, I have been drinking this beer since the beginning.

The head on this beer is always ample and sturdy (hence the name), it's a nice cloudy straw color.

The nose is pure hop and cleanly so. You really need to spend some time inhaling this before you taste this beer.

The taste is all that you expect and more. The hop profile is complex, so describing this as piney or citrusy is not an accurate way to describe this beer. The malt backbone is light and present, yet not in the way.

Considering the abv & amount of hops this is a very drinkable beer. I'm glad to see that John was kind enought to bottle a few of these so that BA's from beyond have a chance to give it a try.

What needs to be said about this beer that hasn't already? Popped out of a can into my tulip.

A - Ugly! It's the girl in high school that had the most desirable personality but wore an eye patch and was overweight. You just need to love it. Super cloudy with all sorts of shit hanging out in the body. Who cares? I can already smell it.

T - Fucking amazing. The best way I can describe it is like a sort of dank citrus fruit. Pineapple, mango, grapefruit and something that would taste like the resin leftover if you were to smoke hops in a bong. If you've had Heady, you know what I'm talking about. No malt, that simple.

M - This is where this beer stands out. There is basically no bitterness to this beer, it's all sweet, sweet flavor. I don't know what the hell Alchemist is doing to achieve this witchcraft, but I love it. Creamy as hell and pretty decently carbed. This drinks much like a cask ale, just a tad more carbonated. Honestly, if you like hop flavors and hate bitterness, you'd be in heaven with this.

O - Stop reading this review and buy/trade for this beer. it's the bees-knees.